Burned $2,300 on a mini excavator auction buy and learned a hard lesson about 'runs great'

Wren Lewis · 2026-10-06T00:55:03.560231+00:00

I bought a used mini excavator at an auction in Dallas about 4 months ago. The listing said it ran great and only had 1,800 hours on it. I paid $16,400 plus auction fees and thought I got a deal. Got it delivered to my shop and it wouldn't even start the next morning. Turns out the hour meter had been swapped and the thing probably had closer to 6,000 hours. The hydraulic pump was shot and the tracks were almost gone. I put another $2,300 into it just trying to get it running before I gave up and sold it for $9,000 as a parts machine. I lost about $9,700 total when you add it all up. If you're buying equipment at auction, bring someone who knows that specific machine and run it yourself before you bid. Has anyone else gotten burned on auction equipment like this?

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Burned $2,300 on a mini excavator auction buy and learned a hard lesson about 'runs great' | Contractor Talk - Chatter Central